Just A Girl
by Jily.Love
Summary: She was just a girl. So why did his heart race whenever he saw her? Darren/Julia. Beginning is set in their first year in college.
1. Study Session

**I went home sick from school today and I was like, "Well, let's get a start on all that homework!" And then somehow I got distracted and I wrote this. Oops. But anyway I hope you like it!**

* * *

The first time he saw her was a Tuesday. He had been sitting outside the dorm, waiting for his roommate to come back because he had locked himself out. That's when _she_ had walked past. Her beautiful brown hair was tied back in a bun, and she was wearing jeans and a black tank top. A brown leather messenger back was slung across her body and she had a pair of headphones over her ears.

The second time he saw her was a Monday. It was the first day of classes, and, as luck would have it, she sat right behind him in his Theatre History class. That day, she had been wearing a pair of white jean capris and a sky blue blouse that made her eyes pop. When the class was dismissed, he had watched her slip her headphones over her ears and walk across the lawn to sit down on a bench.

He finally worked up the courage to talk to her in the third week of classes. He walked into Theatre History fifteen minutes fifteen minutes before it was scheduled to start, because he knew she would be there early.

Sure enough she was, sitting at her desk, bobbing her head to the beat of whatever music she was listening to.  
He walked over and slid into his own desk. He turned, offered a smile. "Hi."

He was met with a look of surprise as her eyes widened. She slipped off the headphones and let them rest around her neck. "Hi?"

A grin snaked across his lips as he offered his hand. "I'm Darren. And you are?"

"Julia," she replied, extending her hand as well.

"Julia," the name rolled off his tongue. "What are you listening to?"

She shrugged. "It's a mix tape. My best friend back home made it for me."

"Where's 'home'?" Darren asked her.

She smiled. "Cincinnati."

"Pretty far," he commented, for lack of something better to say.

"Not at all. Just a four hour drive," she corrected. "And what about you, where's home for you?"

"San Francisco," Darren told her.

"And you think Cincinnati is far?"

Darren blushed.

"Does your family live there?" Julia persisted.

"Yeah." Darren smiled sadly.

"You must miss them."

He cleared his throat. "Yeah. I do."

The teacher called the class to order then, and Darren turned around to focus on his work.

* * *

Two days later, Darren pushed open the heavy glass door, heading out into a beautiful, crisp fall day. He heard a shout behind him, "Darren!"

He turned, and there she was, hurrying towards him. "Hey, Julia!" He tried to tone down the enthusiasm in his voice. "What's up?"

"I just had some questions about the Origins of Greek Drama section," she made a face. "Hughes said it would be on the test tomorrow, and I don't get it at all."

"Oh, Origins is a piece of cake," Darren told her. "But I literally have no idea about the Shakespeare part. Tell you what," he said as an idea came to him, "Meet me in the South parking lot at eight. I know a cafe that's open 24/7. I'll help you with Origins, and you help me with Shakespeare, yeah?"

"Thanks, Darren. You're a lifesaver," Julia smiled at him.

"I try, I try," he swept into a mock bow and gave her a wave as he walked off.

* * *

That night was cold, and Julia shivered as she waited for Darren to appear. Finally he did, dressed in a plaid shirt that made him look oh-so-sexy. He slung his arm casually around her shoulders as they walked to the car.

"Ignore the mess," Darren apologized as he threw a mess of fast food wrappers into the back seat. "I drove cross country to get here. I was living out of this car."

"Don't worry about it," Julia assured him. "Really. My car is stuffed with crap that I don't need."

Darren chuckled as he flipped through the radio stations, finally settling on a oldies station playing 'Come Together' by the Beatles. It was one of his favorite songs, and he couldn't resist singing along. Julia joined him on the harmony.

"Wow, you have an amazing voice," Darren said in surprise when the song was finished.

Julia blushed. "Nothing compared to yours."

"Seriously, though," Darren said, "I hope you're planning on getting involved in musical theatre. Your voice is just too good to waste."

"I don't know," Julia sighed. "I want to act, I want to sing, but mostly I want to write. And direct."

"Why not all four?" Darren grinned as he pulled into the parking lot of the cafe. "On three, we run," he told her after he had parked. "One.. two.. THREE!"

They made a mad dash for the warm, brightly lit building. Once Darren had followed Julia inside, he was struck anew by how beautiful she was. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold air and tendrils of hair were coming out of her ponytail.

They ordered their coffee, grabbed a table, and began spreading their papers out across the table. The restaurant was nearly empty, and a comfortable silence fell across their table, only broken by the occasional question and the clink of coffee mugs.

After three hours, Darren's eyes hurt. He took a sip of coffee from the mug that the waitress had thoughtfully refilled, letting out a yawn.

Julia glanced up. "Tired?" she asked teasingly, setting her notebook off to the side.

"Hungry," Darren told her. "Want something to eat?"

Julia laughed, checking her watch. "At 11:30 at night?"

"Why not?" Darren shrugged. "It could be a late dinner. Or a REALLY early breakfast."

"Well, when you put it that way.." Julia grabbed the menu. "How can I resist?"

* * *

It was almost 1:00 by the time they left the cafe, tired but happy. Darren had linked his arm with Julia's and escorted her to the passenger side and opened the door for her like the gentleman he was. They were quiet on the drive back to campus.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow then," Darren tried to waste time as they stood in front of Julia's dorm.

"Yes," Julia smiled. "We're gonna ace this test."

"Oh, you know it," Darren poked her in the ribs.

"Thanks for tonight," Julia said bashfully.

"My pleasure," Darren gathered all his courage and bent down to kiss her gently on the cheek. "Bye!" he cried as he ran back to his car.

Julia's hand flew up to her cheek. She smiled. Because she was completely under the spell of Darren Criss.

* * *

**Drop me a review and let me know what you think, and what you wanna see in later chapters! And don't forget to favorite/ follow!**

**xx Caroline**


	2. Young Forever

**Wheeee new chapters! I know it's kinda short, but I promise it's gonna get more romantic in the next chapter! Let me know what you think and let me know if you have any ideas that I should put in!**

* * *

Julia spent extra time getting ready the next morning, curling her hair and even applying a little makeup. She yawned as she walked toward the theatre building. Her face lit up as she saw Darren waiting inside the door.

"Julia!" he cried, enveloping her body in a bear hug.

Julia smiled into his shoulder. "Darren!" she exclaimed with equal enthusiasm. "Ready for the test?"

He nodded as they began walking down the hall. "Thanks to you. You saved my lifeeeeeee," he said melodramatically.

"Oh, stop it, you," Julia playfully shoved him.

Darren opened the door for her, waving her ahead of him. "It's true.." he said in a singsong voice.

"Oh, please."

* * *

"ACED IT," Darren cheered after the test, dancing around in the crisp fall air. Julia flopped into the soft grass with a sigh of relief and closed her eyes, enjoying the warm sunlight dancing across her face. "IT'S OVERRRRRRR!" he yelled. "First exam of the year down, about 500 more to go!"

There were cheers from across the lawn from other theatre kids. "Who's up for pizza?" Darren called to everybody. "C'mon, let's celebrate a little!"

In the end, a group of thirteen people ended up going to Cottage Inn Pizza. Jaime Lyn Beatty, Joey Richter, Lauren Lopez, Devin Lytle, Joe Walker, Nick Lang, Brian Holden, Dylan Saunders, Matt Lang, Joe Moses, and Brian Rosenthal gathered around a big table with Julia and Darren, all stuffing their faces with gourmet deep dish pizza.

When the pizza was gone, they all sat and talked for a long time. Julia was sandwiched in between Lauren and Darren, and Darren's arm was slung across the back of the both behind her. Her face hurt from laughing.

They ran back to school, still laughing. The fall air made everyone feel refreshed. It felt like they would be young forever.

* * *

A week later, the weather was already making a switch from pleasantly cool to uncomfortably chilly. Julia shivered as Darren pulled open the door for her, a gust of wind blowing through her sweatshirt.

Darren pulled off his jacket without a second thought and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Better?" he asked, as they began the long trek back to the main campus.

"Much," Julia smiled up at him gratefully.

Darren had a class to get to, but he didn't want to leave her yet. When they reached the path where they usually separated, he shrugged. "I don't have to be at Intro to Acting for another half hour," he told her. "How about I walk you back to your dorm?"

"That would be great," Julia smiled. They made their way through the campus, hunched against the wind.

"So I was wondering.." Darren began, "Nothing beats the cold better than hot chocolate. Do you want to go Fleetwood tonight with me?" He crossed his fingers in his pocket for good luck.

A smile split Julia's face. "Of course! You know I can't resist Fleetwood."

Darren had a quick internal dance party. "Awesome! I'll pick you up tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Julia gave her dorm an evil glare, regretfully admitting to herself that it was time to leave Darren. Quickly, she reached out to him, wrapping her arms around him for a hug.

For a few seconds they stood there, arms around each other. Darren's lips brushed across the top of her head, light enough that she couldn't tell that it had happened at all.

"I'll see you tonight," Darren gave her an extra sqeeze and waved as he walked back down the path.

* * *

**Let me know what you think in a review!**


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